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All Rise...

Judge Erick Harper secretly wishes he had made up the name "Q-Boat" himself.

The Charge

As far as I'm concerned, a submarine is no life for a dog—even a sea
dog. I'd much rather sink 'em than sail 'em any day.

Opening Statement

Tyrone Power's winning charisma, some clever action sequences, and
Oscar-winning special effects help Crash Dive rise above the run of the
mill submarine thriller and overcome a romantic subplot that could have been
deadlier than any depth charge.

Facts of the Case

Lt. Ward Stewart (Power, The Mark of
Zorro, The Sun Also Rises) is the successful commander of a PT boat
operating in the Atlantic. When duty and the Navy's personnel needs require him
to be reassigned to submarine duty, he's not happy about it. He's already done
two years in submarines, and has no desire to go back. Orders are orders,
though, and he finds himself assigned as Executive Officer of the USS
Corsair.

The captain of the Corsair, Lt. Commander Dewey Connors (Dana
Andrews, Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives) at
first doesn't think much of his new pretty-boy exec and his predilection for
singing the praises of PT boats at every opportunity. After a while, however,
the two become fast friends, even sharing an apartment together at the submarine
base in New London, Connecticut.

The crew of the Corsair become involved in a dangerous mission when
they discover a German "Q-boat," which appears to be a neutral
Swedish-flagged freighter, but which really carries concealed armaments for
doing battle against US subs. They track the Q-boat to a secret island base
where the Germans have constructed a supply and ammunition dump.

While back on shore, Dewey prepares to propose to his long-time sweetheart,
Jean Hewlett (Anne Baxter, The Magnificent Ambersons, All About Eve). The only problem is
that she has secretly been seeing Ward ever since he was assigned to the
Corsair. Ward is stunned and apologetic that he has been dating his
captain and friend's sweetheart, but Connors will hear none of it. The working
relationship between the skipper and the XO becomes a bit chilly, to say the
least.

The problems of three little people really don't amount to a hill of beans
when there's a war on, and so the Corsair is ordered back to the
mysterious island to execute a daring commando raid against the German
installation, leading to the gripping climax of the movie.

The Evidence

Released in 1943, Crash Dive is an example of the patriotic filmmaking
that was Hollywood's contribution to the war effort. It was made with the full
cooperation of the Department of the Navy, which granted filmmakers access to
such key locations as the sub base at New London. Films like this one were made
to give the public a positive, encouraging vision of the war in an effort to
boost morale on the home front. Our boys are seen as unfailingly good and
decent, the Germans are seen as unfailingly villainous, and the good guys always
win in the end.

Tyrone Power and Dana Andrews are precisely the right sort of actors for
such a Technicolor recruiting poster. Power is a bit flamboyant and a bit
mischievous, but deep down he's just a good all-American boy. Andrews is all
stability and strength, a bit less flashy and outgoing than Power, but the very
picture of resolute dependability. Anne Baxter—well, suffice it to say
that it is easy to see why these two men would fall in love with her, even in
the midst of war's trials and tribulations.

The supporting cast on the submarine is top-notch as well. I was
particularly tickled to see a young Harry Morgan (M*A*S*H,
Dragnet) as a junior officer on board the Corsair. James Gleason
(Puttin' on the Ritz) gives a great performance as the aging Chief whose
health is beginning to interfere with his duties. Perhaps the most interesting
character and actor is Ben Carter as Oliver, the ship's cook. In most movies of
the period, as in the real Navy, African-Americans were relegated to token
roles. The role of Oliver is in fact one of those "token Negro" parts,
but his part is much larger than most such roles would be. Oliver is a
sympathetic character who provides quiet support for Gleason's character after
learning of his health problems. He even gets to go along on the commando raid
at the climax of the film, and shows himself to be the equal of the rest of the
crew in bravery. It's still not a great role by any stretch of the imagination,
but it certainly beats the wide-eyed semi-literate comic relief parts assigned
to most actors of color in Hollywood in the 1940s.

As noted earlier, Crash Dive was shot in glorious Technicolor. The
DVD transfer maintains the comic-bookishly brilliant colors quite well, but the
overall picture quality is disappointing. Most of the flaws seem to come from
defects in the source print. The image shows some notable flickering and jumping
at times, often in shots with a lot of blue sky. There are spots where the
picture either goes yellow or blanches a bit. Overall the image seems to be too
dark, with shadowed areas tending to blend into a mass of inky blackness. On the
other hand, some scenes are remarkable for their lifelike clarity and sharpness
of detail. The flaws that exist are notable, but not enough to seriously hamper
the pleasure of watching the film.

There are two audio options: a more or less original mono track, and a
stereo mix. The two don't really sound all that different. The stereo track is a
little fuller and livelier, but is subject to blaring and distortion from time
to time, as well as some artificial-sounding echo. The mono track avoids these
problems, but tends to sound a bit congested. Of the two, the stereo track is
probably the better-sounding option.

This disc is part of the Fox War Classics line. Unfortunately, unlike some
DVDs in this collection, we don't get any Fox Movietone newsreels or any other
nifty goodies. Special features on this release are limited to a theatrical
trailer and a collection of Fox trailers for The Hunters, Morituri, and What Price Glory.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

One difficulty in a movie of this kind, as illustrated by Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor sixty years later, is the
need to balance the action plot and the romantic plot very carefully. Crash
Dive probably leans a bit too heavily to the romantic side, playing rom-com
games between Tyrone Power and Anne Baxter for a major chunk of the picture's
running time. Making matters worse, their relationship and the resulting tension
between Power and Andrews is just a little too contrived and a little too
coincidental; of all the girls in all the world, Lt. Stewart just happens to
pick up his CO's fiancée. The movie spends too much time on shore and away
from the submarine for my tastes, but it's not bad enough to be a fatal flaw. On
the other hand, the action scenes, when we do finally get to them, are quite
well done and satisfying, and make up for the time it takes to get there.

Some of the action could be seen as hewing just a little too closely to
established submarine flick conventions. For example, there is the time-worn
tactic of actually landing the ship on the bottom of the ocean to evade
detection. There is also the old "oil slick and garbage" routine to
make the enemy think they've succeeded in sinking the sub. Finally, while
submarines were often used to transport troops and deposit commandos in
inaccessible locations, it seems a bit of a stretch to have such an assault team
made up strictly of volunteers from the ship's own crew. To my mind, however,
Crash Dive can be forgiven for these clichés; at the time this film
was made, such touches had not become clichés yet. Besides, the action
sequences are skillfully directed and executed, making them every bit as
exciting today as they were for audiences in 1943.

Closing Statement

As a minor historical note, I could find no evidence that the Germans used
Q-boats during World War II. On the contrary, they were an American/British ruse
intended to lull U-boat commanders into a false sense of security, get them to
surface, and then blast away with their concealed armaments. I could not find
any information on German attempts to use such ships to fool American subs, as
is shown here, although there are recorded instances of the Japanese using such
vessels in the Pacific theater.

The Verdict

Not guilty! Crash Dive is an entertaining, nicely done bit of
entertainment, with just the faintest whiff of homefront propaganda.